


A Crown of Roses

by Jasque



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Rumbelle Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-19
Updated: 2013-09-19
Packaged: 2017-12-27 00:56:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/972417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jasque/pseuds/Jasque
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everything he does is for her and they should have their 'happily ever after'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Crown of Roses

**Author's Note:**

> My take on repeatinglitanies AU Prompt - because I am out of my own ideas and love the prompt. A big thank you to spottytonguedog for going over this.
> 
> _Prompt: Belle becomes the Lost Boys’ mother. They make her a crown of blue roses. The roses start wilting once Rumpelstiltskin comes for her._

Rumpelstiltskin is afraid of what Belle might do to herself if he fails to come up with an antidote and a counter-curse. He knows that he needs to break the enchantment that Peter Pan set on Belle first; only then could he remove her crown of blue roses and feed her the antidote. Unfamiliar with the enchantment, he is unable to do any of these.

As days go by the roses wither one by one, releasing toxic fumes with each wilting rose. He is still neither able to prevent Belle from inhaling the fumes nor ingest any of the experimented antidotes. The feeling of helplessness begins to set in.

***

He is well into his fourth week in finding a solution and with each passing day he witnesses how the fumes slowly affect Belle. Her behaviour becomes more and more erratic and sometimes he finds himself on the receiving end of her sudden mood swings and violence. Those are the difficult days for he could hardly recognise his Belle underneath the woman lashing out at him. No one can hear the silent breaking of his heart.

***

Everything comes in pairs he was once told. One can always find light where darkness dwells and this rings true for Belle. For every dark day that Belle experiences there will be days where she is her normal self.

He will cherish those precious moments where her eyes light up and her tinkling laughter livens up the Dark Castle. On those days they often find themselves in Rumpelstiltskin’s workroom pouring over books and scrolls and trying every imaginable method on breaking Peter Pan’s enchantment. Nothing works of course and they always find themselves starting over from the beginning.

***

He does not know how he could have missed it and berates himself for the oversight. Belle is standing over him, his dagger in her bloodied hand. The crown is no longer on her head and he could feel the telltale signs of his magic slipping away.

The blue roses have done their job; they have darkened Belle’s heart and the one standing in her place is nothing but an empty vessel. This was Peter Pan’s plan all along: turn Belle into an empty shell and inhabits her once Rumpelstiltskin is killed.

Oh, he feels so weak now.

He never did finish the apology that hung on his lips.


End file.
